(bright music) - Today, on the Best of Oklahoma Gardening, we take a look back at some garden craft projects.

We begin by using Oklahoma's red, yellow, and brown dirt to make art.

Bailey will show us how a garden can be shared during the gift giving season.

We learn how to recycle picture frames into flower weaving frames.

And finally, we'll share the steps to make some fun concrete containers.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

So if you're looking for an easy, low maintenance perennial.

(bright music) Have two different types of flowers on one plant.

(bright music) That gives the pepper its heat.

(bright music) It's easy to look at a garden and quickly see the beauty that we get from our garden soil.

However, have you ever thought about the other beauty that might come from our soil?

Now, we live in Oklahoma and we all know that we are famous for our red dirt, but what really makes that red dirt?

Well, if you've ever seen rusted iron, you probably know.

In fact, there is a high volume of iron in our Oklahoma soils.

And with all the oxidation and the water that it receives, that's what actually turns that iron red giving our soil that red color.

Now, we have a high diversity of soils for the area of Oklahoma.

In fact, we have 2,500 different types of soils.

However, one of the most well-known soils is the port silt loam, which is identified in 33 of the 77 counties in the state of Oklahoma.

In fact, it's actually recognized as our state soil.

Did you know we had a state soil?

I didn't either.

But today we're going to talk about how to have fun with our soil.

Just because the gardening season is winding down doesn't mean that you still can't play in the dirt.

And today we are going to talk about one way of doing that.

So you can see here I've collected a sample of different soils from Oklahoma.

And what you're gonna do when you do this is first collect a sample, and you really don't need that much of each one.

I just kind of got a sandwich baggie of some of them.

But you can see it's really just a couple of tablespoons that you might actually use.

What you're gonna do is pick out any debris that might be in there, leaves, twigs, things like that.

You're just after the actual soil, not the organic matter that might be a part of that.

Then the next thing you're gonna do is allow it to dry down.

So make sure to put it in a warm, hot area to allow it to lose that moisture.

And then once it has, you're gonna just pulverize it so that it's a finer texture.

And you can do that with just, like, a hammer and a container if you want to, like I've done here.

You could also use maybe a rolling pin or something and actually break it up that way, or even a mortar and pestle if you can find one that you're not using in the kitchen anymore.

So there's a couple of options.

Once you get that, kind of, into more of a real fine powder, then what you're gonna need is some clear acrylic paint.

And so we've got a bottle of it here, and we're just gonna go ahead, and put a little bit in some of our wells here.

And then you're gonna take whatever kind of soil you want.

And really the soil is what adds the pigment to our paint.

So we're gonna take some of this, kind of, red, and just sprinkle a little bit on top of there.

And then we're gonna do some, kind of, light brown.

And then we're gonna do one of these darker colored ones here as well.

And you also wanna add a few drops of water.

So this is just water, you wanna be sparing with this.

Of course, the more concentration of pigment you use and also the more water you use, it's going to affect how saturated that color is when you're actually painting with it.

So we're just gonna mix these up here and that will then turn into your paint that you can paint with.

So I'm just gonna use this now.

And what we've got here is just your traditional watercolor paper.

So this is really good because it actually absorbs some of that moisture as well as the pigment.

And so then you can just paint just like this.

You can see, you can get that red, rusty color on your paper.

So depending on how good of an artist you are, you can either do it freehand and get creative with it, or you can do something to trace.

If you can see this, this is a horse that was traced that you can then paint over that.

So if you have young kids, it might be easier to trace something and then let them paint it.

But it's just a fun way to kind of get out there.

- And still get messy in the dirt, and also it might be a good way of preserving your garden even after those plants are gone.

(cheery music) For more information, visit Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom.

(cheery music continues) - As the garden season is coming to an end, that doesn't mean that you can't keep enjoying your flowers throughout the wintertime.

During the winter, we start to get a little antsy because we don't have all the plants outside growing and the flowers blooming, and all we can really do is plan and start seeds.

But there is a way to enjoy your flowers throughout the winter months, and you can also share them with others as well.

So right now is the perfect time to go ahead and start collecting some different plants, collecting different flowers and leaves and different things to start drying them, as you can see behind me.

So there are several different kinds of plants that dry super well and are proven to help hold their color and their flower structure as they dry.

So Gomphrena, Celosia, and straw flowers are just to name a few, and that's because their structure of flower and structure in their stem is the reason why they dry super well.

On top of those, some ornamental grasses and different herbs also dry super well.

I just learned that apparently this particular marigold that I also just dried, I was trying it out for the first time this season drying it, and it's held its shape so far really well.

And you can hold these flowers for a while, but before you get any of your flowers picked and ready to dry, you need to get your structure ready.

So the first thing that I did was I hung up a string and then I got some rope ready to hang up my flowers before I picked any.

So you wanna pick them in the morning right before they open or right after the dew comes off of them.

So you wanna hang them in a cool, dry place, and you wanna keep as much light out of there as possible.

You also wanna make sure there's good air flow and circulation so that way they don't get stagnant or have any mildew or mold growing on them as well.

So now that you have your flowers hung up in a well air-circulated area, you want them to stay there for about two weeks at the very minimum.

The longer that you allow them to dry, the better that their flower structure is going to be true to what you'll have later on on your different projects.

So as they're hanging and drying, you might wanna spray them with some floral spray, even hairspray works as well, just to help them stay and not fall apart as some different plants could.

Besides just hanging it up as decoration, we've gone a step further and we've began making crafts out of it.

So one of the first crafts that we chose to do was making these little floral note cards.

So we went to the craft store and bought different kinds of materials to use for our project.

So we started out by getting this scrapbook paper and these different brown note cards.

We also got some different colorful note cards as well and different kinds of paper.

This floral tape was really cool, and then some different stamps.

So what we initially did was we made little tiny arrangements, as you can see here, and these have held up really well.

I've had them in storage and I made these last year.

So you can see how well dried flowers can hold up.

So we can also do different kinds of things.

You can draw on it like on this mason jar, and we just threw this little sticker inside of it as well.

And on this one we also super glued on the back so the flowers wouldn't go anywhere.

A really simple way to add flowers to these note cards is simply by using this tape, and it comes in all different colors, all different designs.

You can see we have a rainbow of colors and this little bee right here.

But that was super easy.

We put this paper on top of this card stock and just simply taped the little arrangements.

So after I made all the note cards that I wanted to do, I had a lot of flowers left over.

And so another thing that you can do is make different floral arrangements.

With regular floral arrangements with fresh flowers, they don't last as long as you could want them to.

So with this dried one, this is art, this is exactly what it's gonna look like.

It might collect a little dust, so you might get a new one later on.

But this one is going to hold its shape, its color, and it's not gonna fall apart as much as a fresh arrangement will as well.

And so after I made the arrangement, I also had an extra jar and I just took a bunch of the different flowers and grasses that I had left over and I put them inside of this jar.

You can add some oil inside of it to help give it a fun different look.

But I just put these dried flowers in here.

I made sure the jar was completely dry before adding them, so that way I don't get any surprise mold growing in there as well.

And with that, this is a fun way to help preserve the beauty of your garden, and you can share it with others throughout the seasons.

(cheery music) (cheery music continues) - Hi, my name is Brook Langford, and I am a part of the research and extension experience for undergraduate students here at Oklahoma State University.

And today we're gonna do a little activity that you can do out in the garden, out on a hike with something fun, and it's called the flower weaving frame, and it looks something like this.

So to get started, you basically just start with a simple wooden frame.

It looks like this.

You can get it anywhere.

Make sure that it has no glass or anything in it, and you can use that.

- So in order to begin, you're gonna get some twine that you have laying around the house, in a cabinet, and the craft drawer.

And you're gonna cut a piece out so we can staple it to the wooden frame to make a little zigzag, which is going to hold your flowers that you're gonna get from the garden or wherever.

In order to do that, you're gonna start by tying a knot at the end of your twine, so that way when you first do the first staple, it will stick to the frame and it won't come unraveled.

So now I'm just gonna put it here, kind of in the corner of the wooden frame, and I'm going to use a staple gun to staple it in place.

In order to use this, I just put the staple gun on the twine right in the middle so it sticks to the frame and I push down really, really hard.

And there you have it, now it's stapled to the wooden frame.

And now to just, you just keep going.

Get as much twine as you want, using some scissors to cut it.

And now you're just going to weave it across the frame, kind of like a little zigzag.

Just like that.

And then you're just gonna keep going.

So eventually it will look like this.

And then next, in order to finish the frame, we're going to put a sawtooth hanger in.

So that way when you get done completing your frame, you can hang it on the wall as a decoration or set it in your house.

So we're just gonna place this wherever you would like to place it.

If you want your flowers to go horizontally, you're gonna place it on one side.

If not, you can change it and do it vertically.

So I'm just gonna place this on the wooden frame very carefully, and I'm going to get a hammer.

I'm just gonna hammer it into the wooden frame, Just like that.

So now it's all complete and it looks like this and you even have a place to hang it.

So this is kind of what our wooden frame looks like with the zigzag twine in it.

So now we need to finish it by inter weaving the flowers in there.

So what I have here is just flowers I got from the garden.

Just pick them, or on a like a little hike, wherever you're at, you can get whatever you want, get some leafy flowers or things like that.

You can even put sticks and stuff in it, just whatever you want.

And you're just gonna take them and weave them through the frame until it's complete.

And I am gonna start decorating mine where it's vertically so I can hang it like this.

So that's how I'm gonna fill in the flowers.

I have different types of flowers, different links and varieties of things, and you can get them from anywhere and you can use them for anything.

And this will probably last a few days if you keep it inside.

Eventually the flowers will die, but that's okay.

You can get new ones and different flowers and you can see which flowers grow in the different seasons.

Okay, so I'm gonna put one last flower in here just 'cause I think it's ready and it's full and it's green and it's vibrant and it's really up to you.

You can add in more flowers, take away flowers.

There's also some fresh mint in there so you can incorporate herbs and things from your garden to bring something else inside your kitchen or your home.

And that's kind of it.

This is my finished product, but before I wanna hang it on the wall, if you would like to, you can take your handy dandy scissors if you like, and just kind of trim up the edges.

You can kind of look behind the frame and kind of tell, this is okay.

This can go up against your wall, but if the pieces are too long or anything, just feel free to cut them, trim them down however you would like, and then it is good to go.

But here is my flower frame and it's really up to you and whatever you want, but it's just a little fun activity that you can do with you and your family or your friends and something that gets you outside and your hands touching things in the garden and flowers and just incorporate a different piece of art into your home.

(soft music) - Hi, most of you're used to seeing me out at the student farm at OSU, but this afternoon, on these hot days that we've had this summer, we've decided our late afternoon projects.

- Are gonna be making concrete pots.

So we've made these cute little concrete pots and we're gonna show you how to make them today.

So first you need to purchase a silicone mold and these can be purchased online.

They come in pieces and they're very reusable.

You can use them several times and they seem to work really great so far.

We've used these about 10 times now and have nothing sticking or anything like that.

The next things you need to purchase are you need to get cemental.

That's the product we've been using and it has worked very well.

It sets up very quickly, so you kind of have to work quickly when you do mix it up.

Measuring cups, a bucket for mixing, a drill with a little mortar mixer on it to help get it nice and smooth and some vegetable oil as a release agent.

So we spray the inside of this, that way it won't stick to it.

Some other things you can get, also you need a little spatula for packing it in, but you can also add color.

And we purchased these locally at one of the big box stores and this is a terracotta cement color and then a charcoal cement color.

And we've got a little measuring spoon for measuring our amounts out.

And then once you get all that done, then the students are gonna tell you what's next.

- Hi, I'm gonna help you with step one of making these pots.

So there's different types of molds you can use.

There's a circle one, a square, there's even a rectangle if you want that.

And these are kind of like the end products of what you'll get.

So basically what these molds are is it's just a silicone thing right here that holds the concrete so it doesn't get everywhere.

And it's got this metal piece to keep the concrete up so it supports it.

And then you'll just put these around like this and the silicone will just go right in there.

And then you gotta make sure to put these screws in kind of tight so the concrete doesn't go everywhere when you pour it in.

This'll take a second.

(screw screwing) Okay, finally got the screws in.

So the next step for prepping your pots, because you need to do it quickly because once the concrete's mixed, it goes kind of fast 'cause it dries.

So you're gonna take this vegetable oil and you're just gonna spray it in down in this pot.

(oil spraying) You wanna make sure to cover it well so the concrete doesn't stick.

And that's all you have to do to prep it.

- Now that our mold is ready, we're onto step two, which is mixing the cemental.

So the bag recommendations are four parts of cement to one part of water.

Since we've been doing them in bulk, we've added just slightly more than that.

We're going about four and a half to five cups if we were doing one.

And then about a cup and a half of water.

So to mix it, add your water first, and then start adding your cement.

(mixer mixing) (mixer mixing) That's about the consistency we want.

And if you're going to add color, when you're mixing it is the time to add the color.

And when you're adding color, it's usually about a tablespoon of your color mix to one pot.

And when you're doing this, it's good to work quickly 'cause this is a rapid set cement.

(tool scraping) It's good to get it a little bit in there and to give it some good taps to help take out the air pockets and to help it settle inside the mold.

(tool scraping) (mold banging) (mold banging) As you can see, it's getting smooth.

And once you got it filled and smoothed out a little bit, you can take one of your hole plugs and poke a hole for your water drain.

And that's basically it.

- All right, so now for step three, we've used some movie magic to instantly dry and cure this pot.

But under normal circumstances, you'd have to wait whatever time that your concrete mix is specified.

So first of all, we're gonna undo the mold by unscrewing the plastic nuts and bolts here.

And then these molds have a bottom piece that we'll just kind of push out, just like that.

- And set that aside.

Pull these two plastic parts off.

And now sometimes there's a little bit of concrete left in the drain hole, but usually not too much.

You just kind of punch that out with a screwdriver and then loosen up the edges.

Fold these down.

These silicone molds are really nice.

Really, really flexible.

It makes it really easy to get out and kind of flex it around inside.

And there you have it.

You got the pot out.

Now these things, you can either just wipe 'em off with a damp paper towel if they're not too messy, or if the concrete sticks a little bit, maybe you didn't get enough mold release in there, you can brush it off under running water.

And just a little regular hand brush and some warm water usually does the trick.

Then once you get your mold cleaned, you can reuse it again several times, like mentioned before.

We've used these about 10 times already and you're good to go.

- Alright, I'm here to help you with step four of decorating these concrete pots.

So we've just taken this out of the mold.

It's ready to be painted.

For this, we've kind of gone with an acrylic.

It holds up in the outdoor climate.

It's pretty easy to use.

We've got some acrylic markers.

You can use, any brand, anything like that.

You can also go for an acrylic paint.

Just brush it on.

For our stencils, so you can go ahead and paint these on straight to the concrete pot.

It's kind of up to your discretion.

If you wanna get creative with it, you can, but we decided to go with our theme and draw some things on paper.

We backed it with some graphite and we went ahead, just scribble as much as you can, as hard as you can, and get a good thick layer.

And then you can set that right against your pot and trace really hard and have your design transferred onto the pot to then be traced or painted by your acrylic markers.

After all that's done, the acrylic paint will dry almost instantaneously 'cause it's a fast drying paint.

We'll finish it off with a satin finish, Krylon, Rust-Oleum, anything you want to use.

Let this sit for 24 hours before potting anything inside, and you're ready to go.

- And now we're on to step five, planting your planter.

So the first step is adding potting soil to your pot, our beautifully decorated pot, I may add.

And so with about half full, we are gonna add our plants in, and we have some lovely herbs.

We have catmint, a beautiful pineapple sage, and lastly, I'll be planting oregano in here.

And although we used herbs in here, you can use succulents, home plants, anything would do great.

And as horticulture students, we are using these as our centerpieces for our upcoming scholarship ceremony.

Just a beautiful way to thank our donors and alumni for supporting us.

And although they are centerpieces, they will look great in your home too.

(bright orchestral music) - [Announcer] Next week as we wrap up the 2023 season, we will toast to a new year on The Best of Oklahoma Gardening.

- It'll pick up everybody.

It's not even, yeah.

- All right, squeeze in.

- So with that, you might try drying some flowers to help preserve...

I don't know where I was going with that.

- [Announcer] To find out more information about show topics as well as recipes, videos, articles, fact sheets, and other resources, including a directory of local extension offices, be sure to visit our website at OklahomaGardening.OKstate.edu.

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You can find this entire show and other recent shows, as well as individual segments on our Oklahoma Gardening YouTube channel.

Tune in to our OK Gardening Classics YouTube channel to watch segments from previous hosts.

Oklahoma Gardening is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens, and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful still water gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriter, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Additional support is also provided by Greenleaf Nursery and the Garden Debut Plants, the Oklahoma Horticulture Society, the Tulsa Garden Club, and the Tulsa Garden Center.

(bright orchestral music continues)